A Chat
by TKcloud9
Summary: The life of the crew of the Enterprise as seen through instant messaging. On the PADD chats, everyone's equal. Mostly fluff and random conversations. EDIT: 10/18/2016 chapters reposted with formatting issues fixed.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Reposted to edit for formatting and clarity :) Still basically slices-of-life.**

McCoy twirled idly in his chair, staring at the stack of finished paperwork. Stuck in Spacedock, without shore leave, there was literally nothing for him to do. He picked up his datapadd to comm Jim. "Hi."

Kirk's datapadd buzzed, drawing the attention of several admirals. He put it in his lap and glanced at it discreetly. It was McCoy. He rolled his eyes and set the pad to silent.

Jim didn't answer. McCoy tried again. "Whatcha doin?" he typed. "I'm bored."

"I'm in a briefing with the Admiralty," Jim replied finally, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the present speaker, to give the illusion of paying attention. "Join the club, Bones."

Spock noticed what he was doing and raised an eyebrow at him. "Admiral Komack," he muttered, barely moving his mouth.

"Oops." Jim cleared his throat and answered the question, making sure to pay attention to the rest of the briefing, studiously ignoring the steady pile up of messages from McCoy.

When they got out of the briefing McCoy was waiting for them. "You never replied!" he said, poking Jim's chest. "I got stuck doing crew evals with Chapel!"

"And I got glared at by Admiral Nogura," Jim replied. "We're even."

Spock raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything except, "Admiral Archer."

They turned to see Archer there, grinning at them. "Capt. Cmdr. Doctor."

"Admiral," they chorused.

Jim shook his hand, grinning. "How's Travis, sir?"

"He made Admiral a couple weeks ago," Archer said.

"You must be proud," McCoy commented.

"Yep." Archer looked at the time. "Can I treat you gentlemen to a drink, while you're here?"

"Thank you sir," Kirk said, nodding.

Spock started to decline, but McCoy shot him a pointed glare, and he stayed put.

Archer and Kirk led the way, Spock and McCoy bickering quietly behind them about the benefits of consuming alcoholic beverages in company. "Do they ever stop?" Archer inquired, sotto voce.

Kirk rolled his eyes. "No sir, they don't."

"We do too," McCoy protested.

"Only when one of you is unconscious," Kirk retorted.

McCoy started to reply, but he frowned. "Actually that's true."

Spock rolled his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter 2 also edited and reposted for clarity.**

It was a normal day in space. "I'm bored," Sulu said quietly, out of the corner of his mouth.

"Me too," Chekov muttered.

Silence descended again.

"Can I see the latest reports on the firing times?" Sulu asked, just to have something to read.

Chekov handed him the PADD.

Sulu raised an eyebrow and read it aloud. "The phasers are not up to 110% nyet, and the- Pavel, how could your accent transfer to your report?"

Chekov's ears turned red. "My PADD is acting up."

"Have you had Maintenance take a look at it?"

"Not yet."

Sulu put the PADD away and checked the autopilot status. Nothing to see. He sighed.

"Did you hear that Lt Williams and Lt Chi are in a relationship?" Chekov asked.

Sulu snorted. "They're just friends."

"Hunh," Chekov said skeptically.

"It's true," Sulu said. "Lt. Chi has a boyfriend on starbase 11."

"Ah. Has anyvun told Williams zat?"

"I don't know."

"You ought to."

Sulu's eyebrows went up. "Why me?"

"You are the gossip mill leader," Chekov replied. "And you have more tact than anyone else aboard this ship."

"Pssht." Sulu shook his head.

"No really," Chekov said.

Sulu nodded. "I'll talk to him after the end of the shift."

Chekov focused on his board. "Mr. Spock is staring at us."

They both looked busy for a few moments, and Sulu muttered, "Check your port drift calculations."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Silence reigned. Behind them, Kirk signed another PADD and yawned.

A message lit up on the corner of both Sulu and Chekov's consoles. "Hiya sugars."

Sulu replied. "Hi Nyota."

"I'm bored."

"Join the club," Chekov replied.

"I did."

Out of the corner of his eye, Sulu saw her grin, and smirked back. He discreetly kicked Chekov. "Don't snicker," he said.

"Are you going to to the party later?" Uhura asked.

"The one in Life Sciences?"

"Yep."

Sulu and Chekov both nodded.

Suddenly the PADD on the navigation console began to buzz and chirp wildly. Chekov jerked it towards him and silenced it with a quick stab at the buttons.

"What's wrong with your datapad?" Uhura asked, fighting a giggle.

"It's being stupid." Chekov's grumble was almost audible over the quickly-typed message.

"You should get it replaced."

"I'm getting there."

Over the quiet hum of the air filters, Sulu heard a distinct sound and grinned. "You hungry, Nyota? I can hear your stomach from all the way over here. Didn't you have lunch?"

"No. I was busy."

He shot her a disapproving glance and received an eyeroll for his concern.

Kirk spoke up. "Lt. Uhura, please take a break. I don't want you to starve to death. McCoy would kill me."

Uhura blushed slightly but nodded. "Aye sir."

Kirk returned his attention to the reports. A second later a message appeared on both the helm and nav consoles. "And you boys better sign off, Spock keeps glancing your way."

"Thank you sir," Sulu replied quietly.

Chekov's PADD went off again with a large rattle of chirps and chimes, and he smacked it firmly. "Stop it," he said, about ready to die of embarrassment.

"Ensign, what's wrong with your PADD?" Kirk asked, fighting his laughter down.

Spock spoke up. "He has neglected to turn it in for maintenance," he said, shooting both Sulu and Chekov a disapproving glance.

Sulu turned to face his console, and Chekov shrunk about six inches into his chair. "I'm working on it," he grumbled quietly. "Stupid PADD..."


End file.
